The Evening Brief: Nov. 16, 2012

Culled:

•   Ted Cruz: Mitt Romney 'French-kissed' Barack Obama (Politico): "Sen.-elect Ted Cruz believes Mitt Romney got a little too close to Barack Obama in the third presidential debate. 'I’m pretty certain Mitt Romney actually French-kissed Barack Obama,' Cruz said in a speech at the Federalist Society’s annual conference Friday."

•   New super PAC hopes to give cover to pro-immigration Republicans (The Washington Post): "Prominent Republicans are launching a new super PAC they hope will help begin repairing the political damage left by years of anti-illegal immigrant rhetoric that has dominated GOP primaries and alienated crucial Hispanic voters."

•  Perry loses bid for renewable fuel waiver (Houston Chronicle): "The Obama administration on Friday rebuffed requests by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and the leaders of several other states to waive a federal renewable fuel mandate that requires ethanol to be blended into the nation’s gasoline supply."

•   Rep. Rubén Hinojosa takes over a growing Hispanic Caucus (The Dallas Morning News): "The torch is passing from one Texan to another at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as caucus members picked Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, as the new chairman. He succeeds Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, who is retiring from Congress."

•   Blogger led attempt to halt Texas execution (The Associated Press): "A California-based blogger convinced that a Texas death row inmate was innocent used legal documents he found online from other cases as templates to lead an aggressive and unfunded effort that nearly spared the convicted killer from execution this week."

New in The Texas Tribune:

•   Defining "Adequate" in Financing Texas Schools: "Since 1984, Texas has faced six lawsuits over the way it funds public schools. But over the years, a chorus of conservative voices has posed another fix for the school finance problem: Why not just change the state’s duties under the Texas Constitution?"

•   New U.S.-Mexico Cargo Agreement on Horizon: "Mexico's ambassador to the U.S. said Thursday that a new initiative would let certain Mexican cargo trucks bound for America be inspected south of the border and be allowed to circumvent lines at U.S. ports of entry."

•   Medicaid Providers Push Back on Fraud Inquiries: "Medical providers are speaking out against the state's Medicaid fraud investigations, saying the investigations are crippling innocent businesses and impacting patient care. Investigators say they only target providers when there's credible evidence."

•   Father Cleared of Murder Charges Asks Why His Daughter is Still in Prison: "Megan Winfrey has watched as her father and brother were released from jail because the dog-scent evidence used in the murder case against them was deemed faulty. But she remains in prison, awaiting a ruling on her plea for acquittal."